Definition of 'kilometer'
Word forms: plural kilometersregional note: in BRIT, use kilometre
countable noun
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
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kilometer in American English
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
kilometer in American English
(kɪˈlɑmɪtər, ˈkɪləˌmi-)
noun
USAGE The usual pronunciation for units of measurement starting with kilo-, as kilocalorie, kiloliter, and kilohertz, as well as for units of length ending in the base word meter, as centimeter, hectometer, and millimeter, gives primary stress to the first syllable and secondary to the third. It would
seem logical for kilometer to follow this pattern, and in fact the pronunciation (ˈkɪləˌmitər) has been used since the early 1800s. A second pronunciation: (kɪˈlɑmɪtər), with stress on the second syllable only, was first recorded in America before 1830.
Although often criticized on the basis of analogy, this pronunciation has persisted
in American English, increasing in frequency, and has gained popularity in British
English as well. It is reinforced by words for instruments (rather than units) of
measurement ending in -meter, as thermometer, barometer, and speedometer, having stress on the -om syllable. Both pronunciations are now treated as standard, including among the scientific
community.a unit of length, the common measure of distances equal to 1000 meters, and equivalent to 3280.8 feet or 0.621 mile
Abbreviation: km. Also (esp. Brit.): kilometreMost material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
kilometric (ˌkɪləˈmetrɪk) or kilometrical adjective
Word origin
[1800–10; ‹ F kilomètre. See kilo-, meter1]Browse alphabetically
kilometer
Related terms of
kilometer
Source
Definition of kilometer from the Collins English Dictionary
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